The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery has launched a £150,000 appeal to keep a rare Bronze Age gold Treasure discovered in Staffordshire.

The 3,000-year-old solid gold dress fastener, which was unearthed by a metal detectorist near Ellastone in 2023, has been declared Treasure and valued at £150,000.

The museum now has until spring 2026 to raise the funds to keep the object in Staffordshire and place it in the public collection.

Joe Perry, curator of Local History at The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, said: "This is the most significant item of Treasure the museum has been offered for nearly 10 years and the first of its kind to be discovered anywhere in Staffordshire.

"Who exactly used this object, and how it came to be buried, may forever be a mystery, but it's certain that whoever wore it held very high status in their community.

"To find such a rare class of artefact in the county significantly changes our understanding of the region during the Bronze Age.

"We are hopeful we can acquire this nationally important artefact to keep it within a publicly accessible collection, close to where it was found."

The dress fastener, discovered by Jonathan Needham, a retired tree surgeon from Hucknall in Nottinghamshire, is the first to be found in Britain for almost 30 years and is one of only seven others recorded across England and Wales.

If acquired it would be displayed alongside the Staffordshire Hoard and the Leekfrith Torcs as one of the county's most important archaeological gold finds.

A fundraising campaign led by the Friends of the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery has already secured a £60,000 pledge from Art Fund subject to the remaining funds being raised.

The Friends aim to raise at least £15,000 from public donations, with the museum submitting bids to external funding bodies to make up the rest.

Peter Wilson, chair of the Friends of the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, said: "The Friends have supported the acquisition of a number of local finds, with generous contributions from our members and others. 

"We are particularly excited about the dress fastener and welcome the significant offer from Art Fund.

"We hope that anyone who is able to will help us to keep this very special example of our local history, which will complement the Potteries Museum's already rich archaeological collections."

Councillor Sarah Hill, cabinet member for finance and anti-poverty at Stoke-on-Trent City Council, said: "This discovery, alongside the Staffordshire Hoard and the Leekfrith Torcs, confirms Staffordshire as home to some of the most important gold treasures ever found in the country.

"Securing this piece would strengthen the museum's offer as it reopens following its multi-million-pound transformation and give visitors yet more reason to come and explore our area's history." 

For more information and a link to donate, visit the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery website here.

Donation forms are also available at Gladstone Pottery Museum or to download.